BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PRIME MINISTER of St. Kitts and Nevis, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas yesterday (Oct. 23) made public his views on the decision taken by Nevis’ Premier Joseph Parry to call a general election rather than a bi-election.
On Tuesday (Oct. 16), Premier Parry declared that Nevisians and residents on that island would be going to the polls not only to fill the vacant St. John’s Seat, which the Courts ruled the results that gave victory to former Deputy Premier Hensley Daniel in the July 2011 election as null and void, but also to elect a new Nevis Island Administration for the next five years.
“We are having a general election…let’s not believe we are having a bi-election. It’s not going to happen! No bi-election is going to take place in this country; it is going to be a general elections,” Premier Parry said on his weekly radio programme - ‘In touch with the Premier’.
This announcement aroused much debate among some prominent lawyers in St. Kitts and Nevis, who noted that it was the Premier’s Constitutional right to either call a general or bi-election. But Leader of the Concerned Citizen’s Movement Vance Amory, whose party has the same amount of Seats (two) as the ruling Nevis Reformation Party, has challenged Parry’s decision and indicated that they would be seeking legal advice on the issue.
Also commenting on the issue was PM Douglas who, on his ‘Ask the PM’ radio programme yesterday, said that Premier Parry had the right at any time to dissolve the Nevis Island Assembly.
Dr. Douglas was at the time responding to a caller who asked for his comment on the matter.
“There is a section in the Constitution that gives the authority to the Premier or the Prime Minister to dissolve at any time and call a general election. And so he is going, I believe, under that relevant section of the Constitution, which is...their Constitution is the same as ours with regards to election.
“I can dissolve the House any time. If, for example, there is a vacancy that arises in my case and instead of having a by election within the 90 days, as you rightly said Section 42 speaks to, I can say let me have a general election and go back to the polls.”
Dr. Douglas further explained that the Governor-General would dissolve the Federal Parliament on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Nevis Legislature on the advice of the Premier.
Section 47 of the Federation’s Constitution clearly states: “The Governor-General may at any time prorogue or dissolve the Legislature. In the exercise of his powers to dissolve the Legislature the Governor-General shall act in accordance with the advice of the Premier, but before any such advice is given the Premier shall consult the Prime Minister.”
Also, Section 48 of the Constitution states: “Where the seat of a member falls vacant otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of Parliament, if the vacant seat is that of a Representative, a by-election shall be held to fill the vacancy within ninety days of the occurrence of the vacancy unless Parliament is sooner dissolved.”
While Premier Parry is steadfast on having a local general election, he is mum on its date. And Amory publicly declared that that form of election would take a heavy toll on the island’s economy, taking the current economic situation into consideration.
